The Cold Trail
Last Chapter - A New Hope: Searching for a Lost Father After a small detour to pack a change of clothes, Shelly led her brother Leo and their new friend Haruhi to the train station. hey arrived just in time to catch the last train departing for Treetop Town that day and, hopefully, a lead as to the whereabouts of Haruhi's father. It was a fairly uneventful journey for the most part, with Shelly drawing in her a sketchbook and Leo watching the sun slowly falling on the horizon. Nobody said much, as Haruhi was to wrapped up in imagining what they might fined and the siblings where to polite to interrupt her. In fact, the only noise they heard other than the rattling of the train wheels was the snoring of their new companion, who for the most part had slept the whole journey away. She was older than the three of them, and had silky white hair tied back in a pony tail with a dark grey news cap pulled down over her eyes. She only smiled and nodded when the met her at the train station, and nodded off before any introductions could be made, but after a while Shelly looked up from her drawing and said. "So... I know it's not exactly a normal introduction, but this is Isa. She's Jaina's sister." The sound of the train approaching the station forced Haruhi out of her thoughts and back to reality. Due to how deep in thought she was it took her awhile for her to reailize that she was at the station. To take any time at all must mean that it was something profound, which is a testament to her incredible wisdom. Soon after she realized where she was, she heard Shelly introduced her to the newcomer. Haruhi nodded and then replied by saying. "Thanks again for coming to help me." Shelly nodded slightly, pulling her bag out from underneath the seat. "Sure, no problem." She stood up to get a duffle bag from the overhead rack, but stopped part way through when they heard Isa moan in her sleep. A slightly annoyed look fell over Shelly's face, and she leaned in closer to the sleeping woman. "Isa, we're here!" Isa hopped in her seat, waking up in surprise, but she still had a completely blank look on her face when she looked up at them. "What...?" She moaned, glancing out the window into the night. The trees and water below them where enough of a clue, and she stretched her arms out above her head. "Sorry, I think I fell asleep." "You think?" Leo said sarcastically, throwing a backpack over his shoulder. Isa ignored the tone of his voice, or was simply too tired to notice it. Either way, she slowly shuffled upright in her seat and looked at their guest. "I'm sorry honey, I don't think I got your name." Haruhi smiled slightly as she listened to them bicker. Even though she has never wanted to be a part of a guild, she has always wondered what it would be like to be in one. However, like her father, Haruhi had a tendency to travel a lot and rarely stay in one place for too long. This meant the life of being a member would be more of a nuisance than something to enjoy. When Isa asked Haruhi her name, Haruhi said, "My name is Haruhi Kaneko. Nice to meet you." "Same." She smiled gently, swaying as the train came to a stop at the terminal. One by one, they each disembarked the train, stepping out onto boardwalk pathway that led off into the city. Lights from the houses in the trees illuminated much of the area, but it still left the water below them an eerie pitch black abyss. After following a winding stairway up to the canopy level, and a virtual spider web of bridges leading in all directions sprawled out before them, Shelly spun around to ask. "So; did you want to go to the guild first, or wait until tomorrow?" "If it's not too late or to far from here, I would like to go to the guild first." Haruhi said soon after Shelly spoke and after she exited the bridge. If it wasn't too late Haruhi wanted to find go to the guild because in her mind every moment she did nothing her father got further and further away from her. "Well..." Shelly hummed, caught by some sort of internal debate. "It is kind of late, so I think the only one's who'll be there are the guild master... But I don't know how helpful he'll be." Leo sighed, having dragged behind the others. "You mean the guy who can't stop talking? If we talk to him now, we'll never get to bed." Though Shelly had been annoyed by her brother's attitude thus far, she made no comment this time. Failing to follow the mood, Isa piped up. "It won't be so bad. Miki might still be there too." Shelly smiled gently, while Leo continued to simply follow along and mumble to himself. "Besides; If Haruhi's father hasn't been here, we'll just head somewhere else." After about fifteen minutes worth of waking across bridges and docks, the thick trees around them broke into a small clearing, a single massive tree resting in the center of the water with a bridge connecting it to the boardwalk. a strange orange glow emanated from the top, and a swath of buildings enveloped the outside of the tree like a fungus. Lights could be seen through the windows, so they where pretty hopeful that at least somebody would answer the door. Unfortunately for them, Isa had knocked several dozen times, but nobody had yet appeared. Granted, it was a large building, but it was still discouraging none the less. "I'm sorry honey, we might have missed them..." Isa mumbled. Haruhi thought for a moment as she tried to think of another person who could help them. "Are there any information brokers around here?" Haruhi asked. Haruhi had low hopes that the answer would be yes, but she asked just in case she was wrong. For Haruhi, information brokers were a rare sight and judging by what she saw in this town, the possibility an information broker being here is very low. The three mages from Blazing Soul all thought for a moment, but before any of them could say anything the door to Aged Pelt slowly creped open. "I'm sorry for the wait..." A purple haired woman stepped out into the night, looking over them all before stopping on Isa. "Oh, Ms. Wondrel. How can I help you?" "Hi Miki" Isa smiled gently. "I know it's kind of late, but we where wondering if any elves have passed through town recently." Miki instantly shook her head. "No. Nobody comes to mind." "Are you sure?" Shelly begged, putting on the best puppy dog look she could muster. "We're trying to help a friend. There hasn't been anybody new around town lately?" Miki opened her mouth to say something, but she speared to suddenly recall something that may be of help. "Well... I'm not sure if she's an elf or not, but the Council did ask us to keep an eye on a tourist that arrived a few days ago." She pointed off to another tree across the water, with a large building built into the side of it. "She's staying over in that hotel if you wish to ask her yourselves." "The council asked you to spy on a tourist?" Leo scratched his head in confusion. "What for?" "That, I'm not sure." Miki shrugged again. "We where told they possessed a unique strength for a mage, but we weren't given any details beyond that." A silence fell over the group, mostly because they where all imagining what this supposed tourist would be like to attract the eye of the Magic Council. "Anyways, the hotel staff knows about her too, so if you ask them they should be able to point you in the right direction. And I'm sorry, but I've still got thing's to do here." "Sure, no problem." Isa waved again as Miki ducked back inside, then began leading the others away. "Well, it might be worth it to ask." She suggested, looking back at Haruhi. Once the door closed Haruhi looked in the direction of the hotel and focused her ability to sense magic power to the general area. It took only four seconds to find the source because most of the magic power she sensed in that direction were small and the few that had an impressive amount of magic power were simply walking past the hotel. That left only one other impressive amount of magic power and this one seemed as if it was in the hotel. When Haruhi tried to focus in she felt the sudden yet small drowning sensation, which caused her to immediately pull her sense back. "I can see why the Magic Council would be nervous...", Haruhi thought to herself. Haruhi turned back to her friends and quietly nodded in agreement since she was still trying to recover from what she sensed. It was a short, if roundabout walk through town, but the group had arrived at the hotel un just under ten minuets. The reception was forthcoming enough with the information on their subject, apparently they too had been made aware of this person, and soon the group stood outside of their guestroom door. Shelly gently pushed Haruhi ahead, encouraging her to knock. "Go ahead, it's your dad after all." "I know, but should one of you get ready in case this person attacks. After all, she's strong enough to make the Magic Council nervous." Haruhi said in the hopes that she tried to dodge the possibly of having to go in alone. When Haruhi finished speaking her acute ears picked up the sound of footsteps approaching the doors. "She must have sensed us.", Haruhi thought. The footsteps continued until it reached the door. Once it stopped the door opened to reveal not a large, intimidating, and demonic figure that one may suspect from the rumors, but instead a small humanoid figure that looked to be around 17 years old. The girl in the doorway had blood red hair and she was wearing civilian clothes. The combination of these things would have made her look like an average 17 year old, if it wasn't for the fact that behind the slightly annoyed expression this girl had was an expression that seemed to suggest that she had seen a lot of horrific things that no one should ever have to see. "Do you need something?" the girl asked simply. The three from Blazing Soul all stepped back. Despite the girls appearance, none of them wanted to be caught off guard. "We, um... Wanted to ask you something." Isa muttered. Haruhi looked at the girl in the doorway and something about her told her that this girl had a lot in common with her. "I was wondering if you have seen an elf that looks like he could be my father." Haruhi said politely. Otohime glanced at the three from the Blazing Souls guild for a bit before looking at Haruhi. "Missing fathers seem to happen a lot recently...", Otohime mutter as she thought about her own missing father and the various other people who have also asked her this question. "I might have.", Otohime said to the group. "Really?" Shelly said excitedly. "Can you tell us?" "It depends, do you have money?" Otohime responded with a touch of humor in her voice. "I am an information broker after all, I make my living this way, but don't worry it's not that expensive." She continued as she stepped to the side so that there is a clear path into the room. "If so, come in." She said. Haruhi followed instantly, followed by Shelly and Isa. Leo stayed back for a moment, suspicious of the situation as a whole, but decided to go along with it after a moment of standing in the hallway by himself. He didn't venture too far in however, deciding to stay by the door in case Otohime was up to something. "So, what do you know?" Otohime looked at the man who stayed behind before closing the door and walking to a chair near a bed and sitting in the chair. "Well I need a name first.", Otohime said as she used her magic power to materialize a magical database in front of her. "His name is Haruto Kaneko.", Haruhi said. Otohime paused before she said, "That must mean you your Haruhi. The one they call 'The Goddess of Peace.'.", Otohime said. Haruhi hesitantly nodded. Otohime thought back to her horrific childhood and let out a sigh. "I change my mind, I will do it for free. In fact, if it turns out I can't find your father, I will not stop until I do.", Otohime said with unwavering conviction in her voice. After speaking, Otohime turned to the others and said, "This might take awhile, so you are welcome to sit down." "I thought you made your living this way?" Shelly said with a chuckle. "What changed?" "I can't charge someone like her. Especially when we are alike in a lot of ways." Otohime said with a small smile. "Plus, it's not like I am dirt poor. I can afford giving information to people for free every once in awhile." She added as she looked through the magical database. Haruhi glanced at the information broker as she tried to remember if she had ever seen or heard of her. There was something about her that seemed familiar, but as of right now she had no clue of what it could be. A few minutes passed as Otohime searched, in which time the others had begun to settle down. More from boredom than anything else. "Any luck?" Isa asked hopefully. "The last time he was seen was six years ago on a far away island. According to the reports, the sea around the island has gotten very violent lately. If that's the case, it would explain why he hasn't returned home." Otohime responded as she made the magical database disappear. Once the magical database disappeared she leaned back in the chair. "If you wanted I can check for clues on that island." Otohime continued. "Six years is a long time." Leo huffed in announce. "There might not be-." "Leo!" Shelly interrupted. She quickly glanced at Haruhi, then again at Otohime. "It wouldn't happen to be nearby, would it? Then again, if you're just here on vacation, I guess that means it's probably not..." "It is far away, but it won't take me a long time to reach it. Water is my specialty.", Otohime said with a smile. Upon hearing that said, Haruhi glanced at Otohime, finally realizing who she was. She remembered reading an old news article a long time ago about a powerful duo consisting of a water mage and martial artist. She was honestly surprised and curious as to why someone like her would be in a hotel. "How long would it take?" Haruhi asked. "Less than a day to get there if I decide to rush and it might take me two days to search thoroughly search the entire island." Otohime said. "I don't think we'll be able to come with you though." Isa admitted, pulling Shelly and Leo a step back. "I've got some stuff to take care of, and I don't think either of these two have their passports yet. Sorry." Category:RP Category:Chapters Category:Chapter Category:Storyline